Improvement in fire-arms



F. BEE RSTECHER.

Lock for -Fire-arms.

No. 13,592. Patented Sept. 25, 1855.

N-FETERS, PndrouruoaliAPuEi. WASHINGTGR, n c.

UNITED TATES ATENT FFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 13.592. dated September25, 1855.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK BEER- STEOHER, of the city of Philadelphiaand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inFire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a pistol having theimprovement applied thereto. Figs. 2, 3, and at are different views ofparts of the hammer; and Fig. 5, a reverse side view of the hammer, likeletters indicating like parts when on the different figures.

My invention relates to the mode of constructing the head of the hammerof those fire-arms which are adapted for discharging two loads insuccession from the same barrel without reloading; and it consists inmaking the head of the hammer in two parts, so constructed and combinedtogether that the longer part of the head may, as occasion requires, beturned downward, so as to clear the forward tube, and allow the shorterpart of the head to strike the rear tube when the the said hammer is letgo, thus dispensing with the intermediate lever heretofore required fordischarging the forward load.

Referring to the drawings, A is the hammer; B, the rear cap-tube; O, theforward captube. In order to cause the head of the hammer to cover bothof the tubes, (one of which tubes being necessarily placed a shortdistance in advance of the other,) the head is made in two partsthe oneprojecting a little forward of the other-the longer part, (I, beingformed with a tennon, e, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which fits into aslot, f, cut in the head, and is held therein by means of the screw-pin9, so as to form a joint that the said longer part may be turned down,as shown by the dotted lines, Fig. 1; and for the purpose of producingsufficient friction in the joint to prevent the said projecting partfrom falling down by its own weight, a small spring, h, is inserted intothe side of the hammer, so as to bear with its point against the side ofthe tenuon e, alternately in two small cavities, t,

which have inclined bottoms, so that the point of the spring may slidefrom one to the other cavity, as the said longer part of the head ismoved down or up by the finger of the operator. The shorter part, 70, ofthe head is made in the usual form, and adapted in length to suit thepurpose of exploding a cap on the rear tube, 13. hen the longer part,(1, of the head is turned down, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1,the said longer part, (7, being also adapted in length and form to thepurpose of exploding a cap on the forward tube, 0, when in the positionon the hammer shown in Figs. 1 and 5, and without at the same timeallowing the shorter part, 70, of the hammer to come in contact with thecap on the rear tube, 13.

Operation: The two charges being placed in the barrel in the usualmanner, the hammer cooked, and explosive caps placed upon the two tubesB and O, and the longer part of the head of the hammer being in theposition shown in Fig. 1, when the hammer is let go it explodes theforward cap, and thus the forward charge only is discharged. The hammeris then again cocked, when, with his finger, the operator turns down thelonger part, d, of the head into the position shown by the dotted lines,Fig. 1 when the hammer is again let go and the rear charge discharged.

The principal advantages arising from thus constructing the head of thehammer are that the inconvenient and awkward-looking intermediate leverheretofore required for exploding the forward cap, or for preventing theexplosion of the rear one in fire-arms of this character is entirelydispensed with, and a cheaper, more compact, convenient, and quickly-adjusted means is afforded thereby for the purpose.

I do not claim the general arrangement whereby two loads may bedischarged in succession from one barrel without reloading, as sucharrangement is not new; but

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

Constructing the head of the hammer ofw fire-arms of this description sothat the part of the head which discharges theforward load shall becapable of being turned down for the purpose of allowing the shorterpart of the same being constructed, arranged, and. 0phead to strike therear tube only, and so that erating, substantially as described and setwhen turned up it shall strike the forward forth.

tube only without the use of the intermedi- F. BEERSTEOHER. ateeovering-1ever heretofore required, for the WVitnesses: purpose ofpreventing the explosion of the BEN MORRISON,

rear cap in fire-arms of this description, the J. LANDSOHUTZ.

